About half of the attendees at a Jeffersoun County candidate forum raised their hands when asked if they had already voted this year.
Still, more than 100 people came to the Arvada Chamber of Commerce's breakfast forum at the Arvada Center on Oct. 21 to learn what candidates had to say about local issues.
"Jefferson County is the fiber of who I am," said Libby Szabo, incumbent for the District 1 county commissioner position. "I knew the local issues before I started serving at the local level."
Participants in the forum were: Szabo, a Republican, and challenger, Marti J. Smith, a Democrat; Frank Teunissen, a Republican, and incumbent Casey Tighe, vying for the District 2 commissioner seat; and Republican Pete Weir, the incumben District Attorney for the 1st Judicial District, and Democrat challenger Jake Lilly.
Each candidate had five minutes for an opening statement and 90 seconds for a closing statement.
Moderator Jim Siedlecki, director of communications for Adams County, asked five questions selected at random to each candidate. Questions included future growth of the county, impacts of marijuana, homelessness, the needs of an aging population and transportation and infrastructure funding. Weir and Lilly addressed marijuana, but were also asked their viewpoints on prison population, contracting for private prisons and the challenges facing the district attorney's office.
Questions were answered cordially --; each of the candidates respecting each other's time.
However, Weir did bring up the large outside advertising campaign of political activist and billionaire George Soros in support of the Lilly campaign.
Lilly has previously stated that he had not requested Soros' assistance, and that he had not condoned any of those ads. He did not comment about the Soros ads at the forum.
Weir mentioned his 37 years of experience as a public servant, and in argument, Lilly suggested "it's time for a new generation of prosecutors."
Candidates also brought up the county budget.
"The county budget is a bit stagnant," Smith said. It's important to understand how to manage the county's half-a-million dollar budget. I'm a solutions provider ... a builder of consensus with bipartisan solutions."
Fair and competitive pay for county staff is important to Tighe.
Jeffco has "great employees you can be proud of," he said.
All candidates promised a commitment to Jefferson County. Both Teunissen and Tighe stated that, if elected, they will focus on sensible economic growth while protecting the county's open-space assets.
from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.comhttp://arvadapress.com/stories/County-candidates-face-off-at-Arvada-forum,238146?branding=15
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